With meticulous analyses of the
lifestyles of the Himalayan pastoral nomads, the Lakshadweep islanders, and Kanyakumaris
Mukkuvar fisherfolk, among others, the studies here show how these communities follow the
spirit of the natural world: not in imitation of old times, but in continuation of the
primal vision. Delineating, thus, variegated cultural paradigms of these communities, with
details like, for instance, of their belief systems, myths, rituals, folklore, songs, and
their knowledge of cosmology as well as natural phenomena, the authors underscore the
inseparability of nature and culture in the lived experience of traditional societies the
world over. The book also carries a brilliant overview of ecology vis-a-vis traditional
resource management systems.

The authors are ecologists, anthropologists
and folklorists of wide repute.